Century Aluminum starts constructing $120 million worth new low-carbon billet casthouse at Grundartangi smelter

On Wednesday, November 3, Century Aluminum Company declared that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Norðurál Grundartangi ehf (“Norðurál”), started off the construction of a new low-carbon billet casthouse at Grundartangi, Iceland smelter.

The new value-added casthouse will have a capacity of 150,000 tonnes of billet production, expanding Grundartangi’s primary foundry alloys annual capacity from the current 60,000 tonnes to 120,000 tonnes. The $120 million worth project is expected to commence production in Q1 2024, creating approximately 90 new jobs.

 Century Aluminum’s President and Chief Executive Officer Jesse Gary commented: "We are very excited to bring billet production to Grundartangi and, beginning in 2024, to bring low-carbon Natur-Al™ billet to the European market.”

He added, “Once complete, the new casthouse will enable Grundartangi to produce over 80% of its production as value-added products, further strengthening this world-class asset. In addition, by utilizing renewable electricity to further process our aluminum into billets in Iceland, we are not only creating a more valuable product, but we are also strengthening the Natur-Al™ brand and lowering the carbon footprint of aluminum production throughout Europe. We are proud to announce that the project will be fully financed with Icelandic green financing from Arion Bank and powered with green energy from our partners at Landsvirkjun."

The billets and foundry products to be produced at Norðurál Grundartangi ehf will meet the growing demand for low-carbon aluminum products in the European market. Grundartangi uses 100 per cent renewable energy resources to produce Natur-Al™ aluminum, which has one of the lowest CO₂ footprints in the world.

Century´s total aluminum production at Grundartangi is approximately 320,000 tonnes per year.